A plasma is a collection of electrically charged and neutral particles. In a plasma, the density of negatively-charged particles (electrons and negative ions) is equal to the density of positively-charged particles (positive ions). Plasma generation may be conducted by applying power to electrodes in a chamber of a reactor. In diode or parallel plate reactors, power is applied to one electrode to generate a plasma. In triode reactors, power is typically applied to two of three electrodes to generate a plasma.
In radio frequency (RF) plasma generation, for a diode reactor, a sinusoidal signal is sent to an electrode of a pair of electrodes. Conventionally, a chuck or susceptor is the powered electrode. Examples of parallel plate reactors include the 5000MERIE from Applied Materials, Santa Clara, Calif.
A plasma source material, which typically includes one or more gases, such as, for example, argon, silane (SiH.sub.4), oxygen, TEOS, diethylsilane, and silicon tetrafluoride (SiF.sub.4), is directed to an interelectrode gap between the pair of electrodes. The amplitude of the RF signal must be sufficiently high for a breakdown of plasma source material. In this manner, electrons have sufficient energy to ionize the plasma source material and to replenish the supply of electrons to sustain a plasma. The ionization potential, the minimum energy needed to remove an electron from an atom or molecule, varies with different atoms or molecules.
In a typical triode reactor, three parallel plates or electrodes are used. The middle or intermediate electrode is conventionally located in between a top and bottom electrode, and thus two interelectrode cavities or regions are defined (one between top and middle electrode and one between middle and bottom electrode). The middle electrode typically has holes in it. Conventionally, both the top and bottom electrode are powered via RF sources, and the middle electrode is grounded. Examples of triode reactors are available from Lam Research, Fremont, Calif., and Tegal Corporation Ltd., San Diego, Calif.
Parallel plate and triode reactors generate capacitively coupled plasmas. These are conventionally "low density" plasmas (ion-electron density of less or equal to 10.sup.10 ions-electrons per cm.sup.3) as compared with high-density (also known as "hi density") plasmas which are generated by systems such as electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP). For ICP systems, an inductive coil (electrode) is conventionally driven at a high frequency using an RF supply. The inductive coil and RF supply provide a source power, or top power, for plasma generation. In ECR systems, a microwave power source (for example, a magnetron) is used to provide a top power. Both ICP and-ECR systems have a separate power supply known as bias power or bottom power, which may be employed for directing and accelerating ions from the plasma to a substrate assembly or other target. In either case, voltage that forms on a susceptor or chuck (also known as the direct current (DC) bias), is affected by the bottom power (RF bias); whereas, current is affected by the top power.